Finally they reached the stream and they rested for a while just inside the wood and looked out at the white fields on the other side rising up gently to the corridor-like path through which they had come just two days ago, although it seemed an age. The stream, swollen now with the melting snow, rushed on its way, gurgling and spluttering past them, knocking folds of snow off the banks as it went which seemed to struggle bravely for an instant to remain white and whole but then sank beneath the black waters as they rapidly dissolved. The midday sun was at its height, shining down on the snow and filling their world with silver light. Reev produced a selection of nuts, toadstools and berries from a little pouch which he wore on his belt and gratefully the animals munched on these as they sat. Nab began to think of where they were going and he realized that until now his mind had been so busy with everything that had been happening around them that he had given very little thought to this part of the Elflord’s revelations, and the full impact of it now slowly began to dawn on him. They were travelling, right at this very moment, to meet the Urkku girl whom he had seen three summers ago and whom he had never really forgotten; and she was, according to Wychnor, a part of his life and would share his journeys with him, although what was to happen to them then not even the Elflord knew. The more he thought about it the more excited he became and he found himself longing to see her again; he thought of how he had last seen her, standing waving to him from the banks of the stream, her red dress and long golden hair ruffling in the springtime afternoon breeze and in her hand the posy of yellow primroses and pink campion she had picked for her mother. All the wonder and magic of that day came flooding back to him in a rush of exhilaration, but with it came the doubts, the anxieties and the fears which had also been a part of it and he felt himself getting nervous again. It was impossible to believe that she would simply leave her home and her parents and her friends and go with him on a journey to places even he had never been to before; and then it occurred to him, with a sharp stab of panic, that he would not even be able to tell her where or why they were going because she did not speak the language of the wood.
Suddenly his gloomy thoughts were broken into by Reev who was sitting next to him and had guessed from the intense look on Nab’s face and from the intuition that comes with magic what was going through the boy’s head.
‘Have faith in the powers of Ashgaroth and remember, she is of the Eldron,’ he said, ‘and you have the Ring.’
Nab turned to look at him and the elf smiled warmly so that all the boy’s fears seemed to vanish.
‘Come,’ said Reev. ‘It is time we made a move.’
They got up feeling greatly refreshed and walked the few paces to the bank; to the animals’ surprise they had come out exactly where the fallen log formed the bridge from which Brock had fallen when they came across the other way. This time there were no incidents except for the amazing way in which Reev appeared to jump over the stream; one minute he was in the wood and the next he was on the far bank waiting for the animals to cross and grinning broadly. The strange thing was that they had not actually seen him in the air as he jumped.
Soon they were walking briskly up the slope towards the entrance to the two thorn hedges that formed the corridor and then they were walking along inside it once again, leaving Ellmondrill glimmering majestically in the sun. The rest of the walk back took place in silence; each of the animals buried deep inside the comforting cocoon of his own mind, letting little fragments of what the Elflord had told them enter their thoughts one at a time to be thoroughly absorbed and digested before the next piece was allowed to enter and be, in turn, mulled over and put in its place. Now that they were away from Ellmondrill and walking back towards familiar territory they felt more confident and more in control of their own destiny, and this gradual sifting and sorting out of all the new things they had learnt and experienced allowed them to understand things that before had buried them beneath a deluge of bewilderment. For Nab and Warrigal, understanding was easier than it was for Brock, who found much of Wychnor’s tale confusing and vague, but he understood above all that he had been right in the feelings of destiny which he had experienced from the first time he had set eyes on Nab although he also realized that he would be leaving Silver Wood and Tara for a long time. When he had questioned Reev about this, the elf had replied that any more than six animals travelling together would be far too conspicuous to the Urkku; six itself was really too many but Wychnor felt that the advantages in terms of safety of the combined skills of all those who were going outweighed the disadvantages. Besides, Reev had added, Tara was not as strong as were the rest of them; the strain of bearing cubs had left its mark on her. Then Brock had understood why, but it had not helped to ease the pain he felt at the thought of being parted from her.
Eventually by the time the sun was beginning to sink on the short winter afternoon they arrived back in the fields which led, over the rise, to the back of Silver Wood and they could just make out the tops of the trees in the distance. Reev called them to a halt and told them that they were now about to make directly for the home of the Eldron and that therefore rather than go through the wood it was quicker to take a path to the right of it. At the sight of the familiar trees and hummocks the animals were filled with pangs of homesickness but, comforting themselves with the thought that they would be back once they had collected the girl, they steeled themselves and followed the elf as he headed away across the fields at an angle that took them, once again, away from the wood.
It was evening by the time Reev stopped again. They were just under the summit of a small rise in a field.
‘The dwelling of the Eldron is on the other side of the hill,’ he said. ‘I will leave you now; you have no further need of me. When you leave Silver Wood with the girl, take the way that leads towards that copse of fir trees in the distance; that will set you on the right path. Farewell.’
He was gone before the animals had a chance to say goodbye; the silver light that glowed about him dancing off into the darkness of the evening until it vanished on the far side of a hedge. Their last link with the wood elves had gone and they were on their own again.
‘Come on,’ said Nab, and they crunched their way over the frozen snow until they reached the top of the rise. They looked down and there, nestling in the fold between two little hills, stood a small cottage. The hill they were standing on was at the rear of the cottage and in front was a thick wood. Light shone from three of the downstairs windows; from two of them the light was a warm orange colour and from the third, at one end, it was tinged with a flicker of red. Smoke drifted straight upwards in the stillness from a chimney at this end and the smell of woodsmoke hung heavily in the chill air, reminding the animals of autumn. Nab looked around him at the steely grey evening sky, the white frozen fields and the wood which lay dark and forbidding under the first stars. For an instant he was consumed by an inexplicable longing to be inside the cottage, warm and secure and locked away from the cold of the night. It came from somewhere deep within him and passed as quickly as it came but the yearning was so intense that whenever he thought of it afterwards a great sadness welled up inside him.
They walked quietly down the slope towards the cottage and were soon scrambling through a rough wooden fence that separated the field from a garden at the back. This back garden was only small and there were some trees forming a border round it which were so close together that they formed a tall hedge. The animals gathered under it to work out what they were to do.
